Yikes! I had the playroom torn up a bit a few times but that was it. Maybe the playroom kept the kids out of the rest of the house. My kids weren't thrilled to clean up other's messes but oh well.

I have 4 kids. I had to take my 2yo to most showings and brought all to a few. I didn't let them mess with anything! Even toys. The 2yo likes water, he did turn a few faucets on. We did make sure they were turned off.

I would contact my agent and ask what on earth was going on!!

I was all set to call my agent, but then my (cooler-headed) wife suggested that I hang fire, because we can't pizz off a prospective buyer, no matter how rude and uncivilized they may be.
I do not like being put in such a position, but wifey is right.

Well, as a wifey, i say yes and no. Your agent can find out who showed your house and can politely have a conversation with the showing agent about tidying up messes her/his clients leave. Unbelievably rude and inconsiderate.

What's next? Bringing their pets along too, and letting them crap in the house? Or leaving a poopy diaper in your trash?

LOL!
I wouldn't put such uncivilized behavior past a lot of people these days. Sad state of affairs in our "society".

I agree with covingtoncat - talk to your agent. You don't have to go all ballistic about it but mention what you came home to and how it might have looked to a prospect if there was another showing right after. Your agent has a sale on the line, too, and will handle it. I'd say I can't imagine people allowing that, but sadly, I can.

I would definitely give your agent a call and tell her to call the showing agent. She/He should have never left your home in such a poor condition. That is not how she found the home before the showing...don't leave it that way when she leaves! You don't have to yell (although I'm sure my husband would, potential buyer or not) just be firm. Very unprofessional of agent, but typical. NancyLouise

Of all of the things you mentioned, one is most concerning: the unlocked doors. I know some French doors are tricky to lock, but the agent should have tried. I know Pella doors are tricky if one is unfamiliar with the "pull up" on the door handle. I might expect that, but I would expect at least a twist of the deadbolt.

For that reason alone you should inform your agent. It's unacceptable and unethical to leave a house unlocked. I wouldn't mention the office chair, or maybe even the mulch as that can happen easily. The rest-mention it to the agent. It could be the showing agent has a reputation for this kind of thing.

It's difficult dealing with other people's unruly children--particular when one works on a commission. In the past I've had to politely tell children to stop running or whatever because it was not our house yet.

I would tell the agent, that next time that agent shows the house, I will not leave. Sorry but ""babies"" need to be watched all the time. Did you check to see it anything was taken?

Thanks for the support and advice, y'all. Good points and helpful. Gotta love the GW folks! :-)
marie-ndcal, we have not noticed anything missing, but I'll suggest to my wife that she closely check her jewelry boxes (which sit on her dresser top, unlocked).
My impression was that these people were feckless rubes with undisciplined children; I sure hope they weren't thieves to boot. Cripes.

While I agree that the potential buyers should have supervised their children, I find it more troublesome that the agent did not lock the door, and try to straighten some of the messed up house (toilet lids and toilet paper). The chair and mulch can happen.
Let your agent handle it, especially with the argument that other potential buyers may have been turned off had they seen the house in that state.

FmrQuahog, I strongly suggest your wife NOT leave her jewelry in unlocked boxes on top of the dresser.

My listing agent had an attention for detail that even topped my own....

I would have let him know immediately so he could speak to whoever showed it. That realtors lock box on the door should confirm both who and when. He can then speak to that agent, or their manager, it doesn't have to go to the prospective buyers because its that agent who is responsible while in your house. I find that inexcusable - and the idea of strangers using the bathrooms (if they were doing more than checking flush mechanisms) creepy.

The only clues I could find after showings were the realtors cards on the counter, and occasionally window treatments left either up, down, or opened in a way I had not left them.

Except - after the people whose offer we accepted were there with a licensed home inspector. That evening, I found some pieces of attic insulation on the bedroom floor, the computerized thermostat to my heat pump off setting (he told them the electric back up furnace wasn't working and it was, he didn't know the controls and I paid for a tech's inspection to prove all responding normally the next day), shoe prints in a white bath tub, I assume he had stepped in to check fan/light/heat appliance over the tub. Even my plumber carries his own towel to put down to step on :) Kitchen floor tracked up - in fairness, it was pouring down rain that day but, wipe your feet? The guy was a slob, clearly not the same inspector I had check out the house I bought....

And I did report it to my listing agent. All ended well, those buyers did complete the sale, closed, check in the bank.

But again, I think you need to speak to your agent.

"....we have not noticed anything missing, but I'll suggest to my wife that she closely check her jewelry boxes (which sit on her dresser top, unlocked). "

Whoa nellie!!! You are really asking for trouble there. I'm a very trusting person in a semi-controlled setting but when selling a house you have total strangers coming through and you have no contol. In this case, the agent was obviously not in control either, maybe because there were little kids and mom and dad split off to attend to them, but at any rate, it doesn't take much to split off from an agent on purpose. Put away anything small and valuable - under lock and key, not just tucked into a drawer.

Update:
Detailed email sent to my (excellent) agent, who reacted immediately--she was as put off as we were--and is going to speak to the offending buyer's agent, but in the most delicate way at this stage.
Wife did complete inventory of her valuables and all are intact and in place (whew). The jewelry boxes are now empty of their contents (which are under lock & key), so they can remain out and in the "staged" placement.
Again, thanks to all y'all for your support and advice - most appreciated!

I had problems with agents showing my parents house:

Main garage door left open (in a house with a swimming pool)
AC settings messed with
Toilets used and not flushed!
Faucets left running
Pool used (I git there in time to see the telltale traces of splashes on the patio and wet swimmers in the house)

It was bad enough that I yanked the lockbox and told the listing agent I would meet showing agents there in the future and close up after them because they were not doing their job.

She whined that it would ruin her chances of a sale, so I took it to her broker, he agreed with me ... and there was a large conference among the brokers who were responsible for the agents who had left cards.

I ended up disabling the garage door, padlocking the gates, disabling the thermostat, and shutting off the water to the house until it was ready for inspection after sale.

I personally would not worry about offending a potential buyer that behaved like this.

Such a narcissist would probably be a real PITA to sell to during the negotiations and closing. I hope never to be that desperate to sell a house.

As for the grease and the spatulas, I'm picturing a snack of some kind that was brought in for the kids to eat. A day of house hunting equals grumpy kids. And maybe the kids weren't meant to be there, but there was a scheduling snafu of some kind. I can also picture an older child being "in charge of watching" the younger kids, and just these types of things happening. That's not to excuse any of it, but just my way to try to reconnect the pieces and make sense of it all.

I guess I see this as two separate issues. The first is the potential buyer who saw no problem in letting his/her kids run amok and also chose not to pick up after them (or even to peek in the rooms where they had been.to make note of what needed attention, and alert the agent to it). That's just rude. But people can be rude and oblivious.

The second issue is the agent. If the potential buyer was difficult, I could see an agent not wanting, essentially, to "scold" his client or obviously straighten what the clients' kids had just destroyed. But even if the schedule was tight, the agent could have stopped back by, or sent a quick text to the listing agent to apologize and let them know what to expect.

I donâÂÂt think thereâÂÂs any acceptable excuse for this.

People are so rude these days. But I place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the buyersâ agent.

Regardless of the reason for there being children running about the house, the (potential) buyersâ agent should have put a stop to it. At the very very least --- and aside from this, I find the situation unacceptable --- the agent should have tidied up behind the chaos and made sure the doors were locked.

Did he/she not notice that his/her clients' children were running amok? Was he/she afraid to say something about it?

ItâÂÂs been several years since lockboxes came to be the default. There was a time when the sellersâ agent attended each showing as well as the buyersâ agent. This meant that potential buyers were not left to roam a strangerâÂÂs house unattended, as there were two agents âÂÂshowingâ the home. (The sellersâ agent also highlighted the homeâÂÂs features and answered any questions, but thatâÂÂs another point)

IâÂÂm glad you told your agent and that she is going to speak to the âÂÂoffendingâ agent.

After an open house I found the master bed had been used as a trampoline, with pillows all over the floor, towels were in a heap, and a few thrown down the laundry chute, living room kicknacks were moved around, one scratching an antique table. People are incredibly rude.

That said lock up the jewelry or put it in a place no one could ever access without a lot of looking. I kept mine waaaay under the skirted couch in the living room. Hide prescription meds too, people will steal those as well, especially painkillers (which you might need after a showing).

Good luck selling.

Thanks for the good-luck vibe, gmp.
We're not going to do an open house. Honestly, no one in this area (or at least, in this price range) conducts open houses any more. And even if it was customary for others, we wouldn't allow it, for the very reasons you (and others, elsewhere) have cited.
We are neither desperate nor in a hurry to sell. Our build is being financed by our builder and my obligations under the contract are easily met. Our estimated close is mid-December.
We have all the time in the world to sell...in a piping hot market.

Still, hide jewelry and meds, people take those during showings too.

Really, any small valuables should be removed from the house. Jewelry, meds, iPods, laptops and other small electronics. Video game cartridges. Designer bags, credit cards, bank statements--all should be where no one can get at them. Spare keys should be hidden or taken with you. Drawers are not safe--people will open them.

It is all too easy for a couple to split up when viewing a house. The agent can only stay with one of them. And sometimes people are scouting for a future burglary.

It makes me despair a bit, realizing that their are so many soulless predators out there. *sigh*

Ah... but there aren't "so many soulless predators out there".

You are protecting yourself from that ONE that MIGHT come into your house....

Ummm...I get that you're keeping it positive LuAnn, and I appreciate it, but do you follow daily news of the country & world?? :-(

Well, yeah... and those you hear about in the news are what % of the total world population?
There are way more good people out there than bad.

News doesn't report it when good things happen (other than the occasional "feel good" fluff story).
You hear about the plane that crashes, not the hundreds of thousands that land without incident.
And with access to instant news nowadays, everybody hears about every little incident that happens all over the whole world. It is making us believe that the world is becoming more violent, but it isn't. In the past, newspapers and the 6 o'clock News were the main way that events were reported and they had limited time and/or space so they had to pick the big stories and ignore the rest.

Don't let the news cloud your faith in humanity.

"It was bad enough that I yanked the lockbox and told the listing agent I would meet showing agents there in the future and close up after them because they were not doing their job. She whined that it would ruin her chances of a sale"

If I were selling, I'd do the same thing. Some people are inconsiderate animals. They seem to delight in soiling other people's property like a dog does to a hydrant.

The agent who allowed the OP's house to be trashed should be FIRED.

The reason you have an agent is to look out for your interests.

If the buyer's agent can't be bothered to protect the sellers property than she should be in another line of work.

Another update: the gal with the destructive brats loved our home, but she wants a 5th bedroom or bonus room, neither of which is in our floorplan (it's a 4 x 2.5).
Sooooo, after two showings (the second time she was here, no mess was made), she's gone in a different direction.
But! We are in negotiations with another buyer, who countered our first counter and we're about to counter that.
Confused yet? :-)

Not at all... why should we be?

Well, this is late to the show, but your agent can request that he/she attend all showings (or someone from the office - that represents you). If he/she is really busy this can be a problem, but I see it all the time around here. It is quite normal for sellers to only show when their agent is present for the showing - no lockbox.
Vacant homes don't have this requirement.

But I will ditto the advice to lock up your jewelry, small valuables and electronics, all medications, keys to anything, paperwork with personal identification on it (bank statements, etc), ensure your computers have login/password on them. Take a few minutes to scour your house like an identity thief or a smart petty thief (i.e. kids).